I just got a realtively simple laptop too mainly use the internet around the house. My main computer has Microsoft Office on it and I have been a MS Office user for a long time now.
As you all know, MS OFFICE takes up a lot of room and I would rather not take up my laptop resources. So I have been thinking about getting the Open Office and using that. The only thing is that I have never used it, installed it or even seen it run. Because of that I have a question or 3 that I hope you all can help me with, if you don't care.

1. Is the installation fairly simple and straightforward? Will there be any "surprises?"

2. How long will it take to get the hang of it?

3. I have glanced at it a bit and I thought I seen where the Word Processing program doesn't save it's documents in the *.DOC format like Word does. I think Excel is the same way. They both use the same file extensions as their default save option. Will I be able to swap files back and forth between Word, Excel and Publisher and Open Office without any problems? Can I edit an Open Office document on Word, etc..?

Is there anything you can think of that I should be made aware of before or during the install? I would like to hear your comments on the Open Office software suite and how it compares to MS Office.

By the way, I am running Office 2003 if that makes any difference to my questions.

Thank you for your time and help. I appreciate it.

Nala

Jerry Ervin

11-15-2008, 14:54

1 Easy and straight forward install.

2 No time at all. It operates just like MS products.

3 You can save files in the native format or the MS format. You can create a file in Open Office and edit it in Word no problem.

Green_Manelishi

11-15-2008, 14:57

I use OO and have for a few months. It rocks, it's free, etc. The only thing I've noticed is a need to double check the layout if I use Word to open a doc that was created using OO, and vice versa. This is especially so if I became "clever" using Word.

You will have no regrets, I am sure.

stolivar

11-16-2008, 16:18

RTF format, that takes care of a lot of the formatting problems.

steve

IndyGunFreak

11-16-2008, 16:50

My office needs are very light.. I've used Open Office for probably 4-5yrs, and I love it.

IGF

Big Al 24

11-16-2008, 17:27

It's good stuff, you'll wonder why you ever paid for office.

Green_Manelishi

11-16-2008, 17:37

RTF format, that takes care of a lot of the formatting problems.

steve

If someone specifically asks for a word doc, that's what they receive.

stolivar

11-16-2008, 21:08

It will read and write in RTF format. RTF format is a whole lot better and safer then a DOC format. Most colleges and schools around here will not even allow you to load a DOC format in word. It has to be RTF.

steve

Blitzer

11-16-2008, 21:57

Not to many differences, can save and open in MS Office formats, and it is faster for some uses. Some formatting issues unless you use RTF files.

No MS Pub application at least in the totally, read older, free versions.